Undesired Guests
by BlueInked
Summary: Caves in the Misty Mountains are seldom unoccupied, and the inhabitants rarely want visitors.
1. Chapter 1

A/N So yeah, this'll be a twoshot or maybe a threeshot, if such a thing exists (This isn't instead of Defiance, if you're here from my home fandom, I just needed a break). I felt like writing lots of dwarves simultaneously, though I'll try and pay as little attention as possible to the Heirs of Durin - Nothing against them, I just like the less appreciated characters. There will be an OC or two with absolutely no romantic links to anyone. I'm just working them out, if they get the slightest bit irritating feel free to flame me, just give me reasons. Also, fun fact: This is the first thing I've posted with a two-word title. Comments, critique, anything and everything welcomed and loved.

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"Start looking for shelter!" Thorin's voice was whipped away almost instantly by the wind, but only a few needed to hear it. They passed it on, dwarf to dwarf and eventually to hobbit, until all fourteen short figures knew that the march would end as soon as they found a cave or overhang. Few things would have motivated them more.

The second day of trekking over the Misty Mountains had brought an early start followed by relentless gales. They hadn't stopped much throughout the long hours of dim, mountain-shadowed light; Durin's day would not wait for them.

Eyes immediately began to search every crack in the steep wall of mountain on their left, watering in the wind. To the right, an almost sheer drop discouraged walking two abreast. It was amazing how fast the terrain had changed from slopes of scree to this narrow path, hugging the cliff-like sides of the peaks.

Dwalin led, his experienced eyes giving only cursory glances to the shallow shadows they passed. Fili and Kili came next, giving the discarded possibilities much more attention. The rest of the Company gave varying levels of scrutiny to the brittle stone, knowing that the forerunners would spot anything before they did yet hopeful nonetheless.

It was almost an hour later when they found something approaching suitable. The light was fading, the wind was gentler, and it was Nori who stopped suddenly.

Ori collided with him, only to be pulled back by Dori, already asking an irritated question. Nori didn't answer, instead sliding the loop of his mace up his arm and starting to climb. The rock was sharp, but at least the wind had kept it dry, and he was more agile than most of the Company.

"Found something?" Glóin was getting impatient. He was a warrior, not a goat, and he much preferred the interior of mountains to the exterior.

Nori managed to work a shrug into the next reach for a handhold, then he was scrambling to his feet on what looked like a narrow ledge.

"Get down, you idiot. We need shelter, not a more exposed-" Dori's call was cut short by his brother suddenly disappearing.

A few seconds later, he reappeared. "There's a cave here. Looks big enough." Fili and Kili had already worked their way to the point he had started at and now they eagerly began their own ascent. It took another few minutes for them to get up and in.

Bofur looked around. The others seemed content to wait, but personally he was cold and tired, and it there was anything dangerous up there then Nori and the youngest Heirs of Durin would have found it by now.

Unless, of course, it had killed them silently. Stabbed them in the dark, no chance to scream.

The wry thought was just begging to be woven into a story – a good gory one, the type that would curb even a hobbit's appetite, great for spending a night in a dark cave. He clapped Bifur on the shoulder and handed him his mattock, smiling at the glare he received, and started after them. He made sure he had ropes to throw back down for the less… limber dwarves. Years of mining had made him an adept climber and he scrambled up far faster than the others had.

Nori's sharp eyes had by this point adjusted to the almost-dark within the rock. It was a fairly spacious cave, higher than a Man could reach and twice as wide. Something wasn't right, though. He stepped forward and something soft cracked under his boot. He reached down, but before he could pick whatever it was up, something moved at the far end of the cave. Something big.

Golden eyes bright with reflected light blinked at him, then blazed with fury. He dived out of the way as whatever it was _charged,_ barely noticing the sounds of Fili and Kili doing likewise behind him.

Two screams mixed as the dim light was blocked out: anger and fear mingling with a large amount of desperation. Something almost like frantic clicking from further within was lost in the noise.

Bifur was staring out at the opposite mountain when Bofur clapped him on the shoulder, handed him his mattock and started climbing. He shot his cousin an irritated glance, which was more notice than he would have given a few months before. A quick flash of a smile answered him.

He had sunk into thought again when the screams came. For a moment, they were the war cries of orcs and he swung around, heedless of the drop behind him, boar spear raised, a snarl twisting his face. Then the rage faded and the deafening noise separated into something strange, panicking, wild and fierce and half-remembered, and –

_Bofur._

His cousin was already falling with a scream formed of unrepeatable Khuzdul mixed with Westron. But something was wrong about _how_ he fell. He was too far away from the mountain. It was as though he had been thrown off the ledge instead of slipping vertically. Bifur knew he couldn't stretch far enough, not even if he had had the reach of a troll. That didn't stop him lunging for the edge, stopped only by Bombur's reflexive grab. Not all of the cook's bulk was fat, and he would not drag his other cousin to his death.

He couldn't do anything but watch as Bofur's flailing form plummeted past. A roar of Khuzdul erupted from within him, and he barely noticed the others twisting around to stare at whatever was above them as strange clicking echoed down. Other shouts blended into one as it changed to another scream. The fading rays of sunlight flickered, and something huge and dark and loud dived down upon them.

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A/N Question time! I do this a lot. This was me writing Bifur for the first time, is he okay? Any typos I missed? Any theories?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Right, chapter 2. Much longer than the first one. Thorin is hard to write. And I found fadas, or accents, or whatever you call them! Not perfectly happy with how this is turning out, but anyway.

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Bofur wasn't afraid of heights. Or at least, he wasn't when he something – _anything_ – beneath his feet or hands, something to hold on to.

Getting catapulted off a very tall mountain by something big, solid and extremely fast was another matter entirely. He hadn't even seen what it was – he had lifted himself onto the ledge and it had immediately collided with him. Then he was twisting in the air, screaming and suddenly remembering just how deep the valleys between the mountains were. He caught a glimpse of the others, a streak of colour among the grey rock, then there was nothing but the steep slope below getting closer and closer.

In situations like this, yes, it was fair enough to say that he was afraid of heights.

Time itself seemed to protest at the stupidity of what was going on. He felt as though each second dragged out for hours. At the same time it flashed away instantly, reeling him down towards the rock. The sharp-edged, very hard, painful-looking rock. He found himself wondering how much of the impact he would feel.

The wind screamed at him as though it was trying to remind him of his current situation, tumbling him around again for good measure. Then it screamed louder. Then the light was blocked out and his arm was almost wrenched out of its socket. For a moment, his descent seemed to have stopped, but he was immediately falling out of the shadow again.

The definitely-not-wind screamed again, and this time when the darkness caught up with him it was pure, soft black and did not lift.

Bombur refused to accept what his eyes told him. Bofur was not falling. He couldn't fall. Things like that just didn't happen.

Bifur moved beside him and he instinctively grabbed his cousin as he jerked towards the edge, hanging on for grim death as though if he gripped tightly enough then the events of the last few seconds would fade away and life would go back to when things were cold but fine. When they were about to stop at last and get food, rest. When everything was normal and no one was falling to their death.

This attempt to force away reality was ruined by the fact that he could not tear his eyes away from his brother's flailing form. The scream from the ledge above made him flinch back towards the wall of the mountain, and once he had lost sight of Bofur he could not make himself look back. Instead he found his eyes focused on the huge shape looming over them.

For a moment all his thoughts were still on Bofur, chasing themselves in useless circles and not even noticing the creature. Then he took in what it was.

The form was hard to make out in the dim light. Feathers. It had dark feathers and golden eyes, a yellow beak. And it was screaming. Wings snapped out and folded in, and it dragged the air down with it as it dived past them. After Bofur.

An eagle was trying to kill his brother.

Fili registered only blazing eyes and a fleeting impression of a yellow beak before he was shoving his brother out of the way. Unfortunately, Kili tried to do the same thing and so the bird-thing almost collided with them. It helped that they weren't in its direct path. As it was, they landed in an undignified heap with the wind knocked out of them.

The screams outside had them springing up again, but before they could rush out to investigate something started clicking.

Fili stared at the back of the cave, drawing both swords in a single movement. He felt more than saw his brother whirl with his bow to point at the entrance.

Nori was fast developing claustrophobia. It was the way the clicking echoed around the suddenly tiny space, the way he only had one way to run. His knives were in his hands almost before he thought about drawing them – in a space like this the staff was useless, and he had always preferred nice versatile short blades.

The shadows around the corner spat out another form, this one small and narrow as it bolted to a sharp stop. Taller than him, but not by much, far too thin, balanced oddly. And panicking, freezing stiff with shock as it noticed him. A whispered curse of Westron escaped it.

He shifted his grip on his blades. It flinched. No. _She_ flinched.

Dori stared at the eagle as it shrank with distance, speeding down after Bofur. Suddenly, the shape ballooned outwards as it spread its wings, the white patches that streaked them flashing as it flapped, again and again.

"What's it doing? Is – Is Bofur-" Ori was clutching at him, desperate for something to hold on to. Dori didn't actually mind.

"How d'you think I know?!" He didn't want to hear the rest of the question.

"CLIMB!" For a moment, their eyes were torn away to stare at Dwalin as though he was mad. "We have a better chance inside the cave!"

"No! It's trying to _help _him!" Balin's voice grounded them again, but it was Thorin who gave the final order after a glance between two of his closest friends.

"Stand your ground!" Then, as he drew the Elvish blade that looked so oddly right in his hands, a quieter statement. "We don't know if the cave's empty."

Dori and Ori exchanged panicked looks, both minds immediately on one thing.

"Nori." Ori moved for the cliff but Dori pulled him down again, realising suddenly that there was nothing they could do. Neither brother would let the other climb alone, and they couldn't both abandon the rest of the Company.

Glóin watched as the eagle glided out from the mountain and set about turning in circles, still flapping, still climbing. It grew bigger at a painfully slow rate. He tightened his grip on his axe and tried to think of a way to fight without dying. He was fine with perishing for in some honourable way, say, by dragon, but he really didn't want Gimli to someday learn that his father had died because a bird had made him fall off a mountain. That would just be insulting.

_Think._ Lean out too much and he'd fall to his death. Stay pressed against the wall and he wouldn't be able to reach.

Bloody awkward eagle.

Then it was on their level, wheeling around and coming towards them. He found himself revising his thoughts about it being slow.

Bilbo was panicking in a quiet sort of way, gripping the hilt of the knife Gandalf had given him with one hand as his other repeatedly tapped his walking stick into the rock. He couldn't bring himself to draw it. The eagle would kill him if it wanted to; a miniscule blade like this wouldn't touch it unless he threw it.

His sharp eyes strained in the twilight. The huge bird came level with them, at last, and he was torn between laughing and crying as it screamed again. A vague dwarvish-looking bundle hung from the huge talons. But it didn't move, didn't call out as the eagle swooped towards them. The hobbit couldn't imagine Bofur staying still and quiet in this situation. And he couldn't make out whether the talons curved around his friend or impaled him.

There was a general shout of defiance that mingled with the rattle of bared weapons as it angled its wings, screamed once more and swept over their heads. By the time they twisted, only the white tail-feathers remained over the ledge. Then those disappeared too. Into the cave where Fili, Kili and Nori were.

There was barely a moment of hesitation before the scramble.

Balin grabbed Thorin's arm and tried desperately to keep him from climbing. The others paused when they noticed, but they were impatient. Ori kept up his desperate ascent for a few seconds, until Dori pulled him to a stop.

"Fili and Kili are –"

"Yes, Thorin, but that was a Great Eagle. He won't appreciate the rest of us invading his eyrie at once."

"And what will it do to those already inside?"

Balin said nothing for a moment, and Thorin pulled out of his grip. The old scholar made a frustrated gesture and reached for the first handhold. "Let me go first. I've had dealings with the Eagles before." Thorin looked torn for a moment, then reached down and hauled Balin up beside him. He kept calling orders as he climbed.

"We go together. Dwalin, with us. The rest of you, don't come into the cave – but be ready to."

Nori stared at the girl and she stared back. Her eyes were actually the only part of her face that he could see; the rest was covered by tight brown cloth that wound around and twisted into an off-centre knot at the back. He took her in quickly, with the practiced eyes of one who is used to calculating value and possibility of hidden weapons. She wore strange clothes that almost certainly didn't belong to her. A thin Man's coat that had had its hem shortened by unskilled hands and a blunt knife, loose breeches, no shoes. More brown cloth wrapped around her torso, held the torn sleeves tight around her wrists, bound her bare feet up to her ankles. Everything was tied down and well worn.

"Dwarf." Another whisper, this one slightly less terrified. He didn't respond. She blinked twice, trying to decide something, then spoke again. This time her voice was clear, if a little shaky.

"He- He panicked. We panicked. Didn't mean harm." The cloth over her face moved as she spoke. He didn't recognise the accent.

Fili spoke from behind him. "Where did it go? Are the others in danger? Tell us!" Nori cursed internally.

Her gaze shifted to the dwarf-prince and a hint of steel entered the hesitant voice. "_He_ went to catch the other one." A faint scream reached them from outside and she seemed to listen intently. She stepped forward, moving on the balls of her feet as though the rock under her feet was strange to her. Nori shifted his blades again and she stopped. His turn.

"What other one?"

She gave him a strange look. "The one who followed you up." Another scream, this time far too close for comfort. A sudden gust of wind whipped through the cave.

Before he could think which of the Company would have followed them, everything went dark.

The girl took advantage of the dwarf's distraction to slip past him and his two companions. The eagle would not be happy if he found the short ones threatening her, and if she wasn't on hand he would undoubtedly do something stupid like stand on the one he had just saved and crush it to death.

He had settled himself just inside the entrance as he would over downed prey, wings hanging loose like curtains to keep anyone else away from his kill. Very little light managed to filter past him. The dwarf was pinned under a yellow foot with a toe missing, unmoving. That wasn't good. She needed to talk to them, and if he accidentally killed one then they probably wouldn't be very friendly.

The eagle fixed her with a confused eye and spoke in his own tongue, as he always did.

_ I think it's broken._

Kili's eyes adjusted quickly to the sudden darkness. A very big eagle was crouched over Bofur, who wasn't moving. The sharp beak snapped as it clicked, completely ignoring the dwarves in favour of the girl who had suddenly appeared in front of him. Presumably this was who Fili and Nori had been talking to while he watched the entrance.

"Get away from him!" He had somehow managed to keep an arrow nocked in the confusion, and now he pointed it at the huge golden eye. It shifted its attention to him, and for a moment it stared. He wondered briefly if threatening it had been such a good idea.

The huge shape shifted as though it was going to charge him again, but then the girl was between them, panic in her brown eyes.

"Put the bow down." Both stared incredulously at her. "Put it down! And you," she glanced back at the eagle and jerked her head to one side with a click. The intent was clear. _Get away from him._

The bird of prey gave a few irritated clicks and shifted his wings. Kili suddenly realised that the noises were probably a language. Before he could continue that thought, it stepped off Bofur and moved towards them. Fili pulled him back towards the wall, Nori already well out of the way. The bulk of feathers swept past, close enough to touch, and Kili couldn't help noticing that its gait was uneven. It favoured one leg.

It was barely past before they backed up to Bofur and bunched around him. Nori crouched to check what was wrong while the brothers watched the back of the cave. The eagle matched their hostility with curious glances, after glaring at Kili's bow until he swapped it for his sword. He didn't know exactly why he was appeasing it. The girl had moved back with it, and now they seemed to be having a conversation.

It was strange to watch. The eagle clicked and chirped, but somehow the shift of its wings and tilt of its head were also part of the language. It was the girl that made him realise this, with her odd mix of tongues. Every movement of her arms and shoulders seemed measured and controlled, slightly awkward. Sort of like Iglismêk. Perhaps half of what she said was Westron, the rest a similar mix of avian noises.

"What are they doing?" Fili muttered. At that moment, the conversation seemed to develop into an argument of sorts.

"I don't know. We need to warn the others."

Thorin bit back frustration as he dragged Balin up another few feet. The scholar was making better speed than many his age could have, but the leader of the Company was not feeling particularly patient. His nephews were in danger.

He threw an arm over the lip of the ledge and pulled Balin with him as he scrambled to his feet. Orcrist was in his hands almost immediately, but Balin made a hurried 'down' motion and he reluctantly let it hang by his side. Dwalin joined them with a battle axe held ready.

Three shapes moved just inside the cave, and as Balin opened his mouth to speak one of them stepped into the light. Kili. Thorin tried to keep the relief off his face. His nephew did no such thing.

"Thorin!" The smile died on his face and his dark eyes became serious. "Bofur's unconscious but alive. The eagle's at the back, it's… It seems friendly. There's a human in there too. A child."

Confused glances were exchanged, but before anything more could be explained a loud chirp interrupted them. It was followed by rapid clicking and a sort of sharp snap, and then expectant silence.

Balin stepped forward. "Thank you. We meant no harm." Thorin wondered exactly what he was thanking it for, and why it wasn't speaking Westron. He had heard of the Great Eagles; majestic birds who could speak and understand as well as any of the Free Peoples.

More clicking. Balin's brow furrowed, and he muttered something about being rusty.

"He says come in. You can stay the night if you want, the cave isn't ours anyway."

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A/N Opinions, I beg you. Also, if you notice any mistakes please tell me, my grammar's getting worse. This is possibly exacerbated by me letting my accent run into the narrative more than I usually do. I don't know which characters to label this as. Anyway, everything appreciated.


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